Naughty or Nice?
by XJerseyGirl
Summary: Ranger and Steph and a Christmas tree and a fireplace and a bear skin rug! Kashy's BCRUS Christmas Challenge.


**_These characters belong to Janet Evanovich. I'm only using them for fun, no profit. Dammit!_**

**_Smut warning! Read at your own risk._**

**_Naughty and Nice_**

**_By: _****_Stayce_**

**_(XJerseyGirl)_**

**…_He's making a list, And checking it twice, Gonna find out who's naughty and nice, Santa Claus is coming … _****The cheerful strains of the Christmas classic, coming from Ella and Luis's apartment, echoed down the stairwell as Ranger passed the 6****th**** floor. Oh great! Just what he needed! Now he'd never be able to get that damn tune out of his head. **

**It was almost midnight when he finally trudged up the stairs and let himself into the penthouse. Just a few more minutes of Christmas Eve left to go. He was hungry, dog tired, and couldn't have scraped up a shred of Christmas cheer if his life had depended on it. **

**It wasn't that he was a Scrooge or didn't like the holidays; it was that he simply didn't have time to indulge himself in all the distractions that came along with the season. Office parties, decorations, shopping, Christmas carols were fun, but could all make you lose focus on the job, and in this business, the job came first.**

**Christmas shopping had been no problem as far as he'd been concerned. After all, he was a goal oriented man, so it had been well thought out and executed with the precision of a military operation, and completed well before anyone had even given a thought to Black Friday. **

**The carefully chosen gifts for Julie, his parents and siblings, and his family and friends had been purchased on line, wrapped and shipped, and now were sitting under the appropriate trees, waiting to be opened. All except Stephanie's, he'd deliver that one in person.**

**That job behind him, he'd moved on to insuring that the holidays had no impact whatsoever on the top shelf services that RangeMan provided their clientele.** **Christmas was the one time of the year when almost everyone wanted time off. He'd rearranged schedules, shifted employees from one office to another, and even called in contract workers.** **He simply could not permit the offices to run short handed, and as a result, h****e'd**** been working back to back shifts for days now, allowing his employees time to celebrate the holiday. He'd only been taking short breaks to catch an occasional catnap, or to grab a bite at the desk of whoever he was filling in for. **

**It didn't hurt that this was seen as benevolence on his part. Of course, it wasn't Christmas spirit at all. It was simply good business practice to keep your employees happy and company morale high. Luckily for him, everything had been calm and quiet and there hadn't been any real crises to contend with.**

**He closed the door behind him and tossed his keys into the silver dish on the sideboard. Wearily, he toed off his boots and socks, hauled his shirt over his head, dropped his utility belt on the floor, and popped open the top button on his cargoes. **

**All he wanted to do was grab a beer and a shower and fall face down in his bed for the next six hours. Of course, he only had three hours before he had to pick up the next shift for whichever lucky bastard was out opening presents and being kissed under the mistletoe. **

**He headed into the kitchen and didn't even bother to turn on the **_**lights**__**.**_** Sometimes this cool, dark apartment, that could be such a haven from his hectic life, just seemed cold and empty. This was one of those times. It felt like a glorified hotel suite, comfortable but sterile and impersonal, with no trace of the individual who occupied the space. It was the place where he ate and slept, but it had never felt less like home then it did tonight.**

**_God,_**** he thought, ****_that smacked of sentimentality_****! He was probably just overtired, he told himself as he took a beer from the fridge. He'd always prided himself on being pragmatic; he sure as hell wasn't going to change now, just because the rest of the world was caught up in all the trappings of the season. That diversion was a luxury he couldn't afford himself. For him, it was just another business day. Still …**

**He took a long pull on the bottle, leaned back against the kitchen counter and thought about Stephanie. She'd come rushing into the bonds office the other day, cheeks pink from the cold, eyes bright with excitement over having found the perfect gift for someone or other. She bubbled over like an uncorked bottle of Champagne, so totally caught up in the joy of the season that she'd thrown her arms around him and kissed him right in front of a gobsmacked Connie and Lula. **

**Despite the cold wind whistling down it, she'd let him tug her out into the alley with him. When he'd unzipped his jacket and held it open, she'd snuggled into him, her arms around his waist, her cheek pressed against his as he closed the jacket around them both, warming her and himself. She tipped her head back and he'd kissed her, long and slow, making her shiver. **

**He thought about how he'd like to make her shiver again, not in the alley, but lying with him in his bed. But this was the life he'd chosen and there was not a damned thing he could do about it. He'd missed his chance years ago, and now Stephanie would be celebrating with the cop. For a smart man, sometimes he was awfully stupid.**

**He quickly slammed the door on those feelings and scrubbed his hand over his face, trying to banish the thoughts of things he couldn't have. He'd feel better after some sleep, that's all he needed. Maybe he'd dream of sugar plums tonight… one very special sugar Plum in particular. **

**With a sigh, he polished off the beer and tossed the bottle into the trash can. He bent to snag his utility belt off the floor and tossed it over his shoulder as he headed for the bedroom. Yawning, he stretched, trying to work out all the kinks he'd acquired from sitting at a desk for days on end. His idea of hell!**

**One step into the living room and he knew he wasn't alone. He heard a click, like a gun cocking, and dropped into a crouch. Exhaustion gone, he instinctively reached for his weapon and scanned the room, searching for the threat. **

**But instead of the expected gunshot, the CD player came on and soft Christmas music filled the room. Tiny white lights **_**glow**_**ed on a Christmas tree in the corner, reflected in the silver and gold ****_balls_**** that hung on the branches. Flames danced brightly over the logs in the fireplace. What the hell? His living room looked like the front of a Christmas card.**

**Curious, Ranger slowly straightened up, slid his Sig back into its holster and left the utility belt on the coffee table. Shaking his head in disbelief that anyone could have gotten in here to do this, he walked around the sofa and stopped short when he discovered the rest of the 'decorations'. He smiled for the first time in days as he took in the sight in front of him. **

**Lying on the floor between the glittering tree and the cozy fireplace was Stephanie, artfully arranged against a pile of pillows on a****white bear skin rug. Heat coiled in his belly when he realized that she was wearing a Santa hat and not much else. **

**She had a ribbon tied around her throat and another around her ankle. Her creamy white breasts swelled over the top of the wide red ribbon that was wrapped around her chest, a saucy bow tied over her heart. But it was the ribbon tied around her hips, the bow strategically placed between her thighs that made him go hard. **

**"What a nice surprise, Santa. How'd you get in here?" he asked.**

**"Why down the chimney, of course," she replied in wide-eyed innocence and pointed toward the fireplace.**

**"Of course."**

**Stephanie watched Ranger's pupils dilate, his eyes changing from warm brown to glittering black with lust as they raked her almost naked body. She knew immediately that she'd gotten the desired reaction and decided to push his control as far as she dared.**

**She picked up a long, thick candy cane and she looked at him from under her lashes as she wrapped her fingers around it and stroked it suggestively. Ranger fixated on her mouth as she touched the candy to her bright red lips. Even from across the room she could see his breath quicken and the feral look that crossed his face. **

**He groaned as she pushed him farther, letting her tongue slip out from between her bright red lips to **_**lick**_** the length of the cane. She ****_moan_****ed softly, swirling her tongue around the end then, tipping her head back, she closed her eyes and sucked the candy into her mouth. **

**The growl came from deep in his chest. "You're very talented, Santa," he said, his eyes still fixed on her mouth. **

**"So I've been told," she smiled, and patted the rug next to her. "Why don't you come tell Santa whether you've been good or bad this year?" **

**"Oh, I'm always good, Santa," he gave her his wolf grin. "How about I show you just how bad I can be?"**

**Never taking his eyes off hers, he crossed the room to stand, spread legged, over her.****She had to lean back on her elbows so that she could look up at him and she gasped when he suddenly dropped to his knees, straddling her hips.****Wrapping his hand around the back of her neck, he pulled her roughly up off the pillows to kiss her, the taste of peppermint filling his mouth. As good as it was, he wished he could taste himself on her lips. **

**Her hands twisted into his hair as their mouths fused, and she pulled him down with her as he lowered her back onto the pillows. She tried to wrap her arms around him but he wouldn't allow his body to touch hers … not yet. Instead, he hovered over her on hands and knees, and peppering her face with kisses, her forehead and eyes, cheeks and chin. **

**Using his teeth, he took one end of the ribbon around her neck and untied the bow. Nibbling at the simple knot to loosen it, he bared her throat, kissing, nipping, sucking, spurred on by her sighs of pleasure as he found that tender spot below her ear and marked her as his. **

**He tasted every inch of her neck and shoulders, moving lower to the swell of her breasts before he brushed his hands over the ribbons covering her, her nipples, hard and demanding attention.**

**As if he were unwrapping a gift, he removed the ribbon covering her breasts and replaced it with his hands and his mouth. He tortured her and himself, plucking and pinching and licking her nipples until she was whimpering. Finally covering first one breast and then the other with his mouth, he suckled, gently at first, then harder and faster until her back was bowed off the rug and she frantically clawed at his shoulders.**

**She felt the pull all the way down to her center, her muscles clenching in rhythm with his mouth and she reached for him. He still hovered over her on hands and knees and she unzipping his bulging cargoes, pushing them down over his hips, freeing him from the clothing.**

**The second he kicked them off, her busy hands found his heavy length and cupped him, squeezing gently, stroking, massaging, returning the torture and he released her breast to throw his head back to groan her name. But when she slid down under him and took him in her mouth, the muscles in his arms started to quiver and a shudder passed through his body at the sensations she was sending through him. **

**"Not yet," he murmured and pulled away from her. She whimpered impatiently at his resolve.**

**He was so hard he ached for release and still, he continued to torture them both. He had waited so long for this moment he was afraid to waste a second of it, determined to indulge in as many of his fantasies as he could. Letting his mouth slide down over her ribs and her belly, he grazed his teeth over her hip bones and nuzzled the last bow, the ultimate prize. But instead of untying it, he moved down to the ribbon on her ankle, using his lips and tongue to remove it. **

**She watched him through half closed eyes as he raised her foot and kissed her instep, her ankle, moved up to her calf and then the back of her knee. He sank his teeth into the tender flesh on the inside of her thigh, and smiled to himself as he made her shiver. Stopping short of the last bow, he worked his way up the other leg, leaving her weak and trembling.**

**He rose up on hands and knees and touched his fingers to her face rubbing his index finger back and for the over her pouty bottom lip. Her tongue flicked out to wet her lip and she sucked his finger into her hot mouth making him twitch almost painfully. With a growl, he trailed his fingers from her mouth down over her breasts and belly, setting fires wherever he touched. Finally, the last bow was gone. **

**"Please, Ranger," she panted desperately, as she reached out for him, "I need you in me, now!"**

**"Soon Babe, soon," he sounded as breathless as she did. "I have to taste you first." **

**His eyes held hers as he crawled down her body and using his shoulders, spread her legs wide, nuzzling her mound and laying soft kisses on her thighs. Stephanie held her breath, trembling in anticipation, waiting for him to touch her. He used his thumbs to spread her folds, and she watched as his eyes drifted shut and he lowered his mouth to her. **

**She writhed under his mouth, her hands fisted in his hair, her head thrashing back and forth as he licked and sucked and tasted, the helpless sounds she made urging him on. "No more," she begged. "No more ... I can't take … I need you … now …"**

**Ranger held out as long as he could, but finally, gave in to her pleas and his own passions. He moved back up her body to kiss her mouth, positioning himself between her thighs, hovering over her. "Now, now, now," she chanted, lifting her hips in silent invitation. **

**He sheathed himself in her wet heat in one fluid stroke. Stephanie wrapped her legs around his hips and dug her fingers into his shoulders. Control snapped as they both fought for release, pumping, straining, biting, scratching … She screamed, he roared as pleasure bordering on pain overtook them both. **

**He collapsed, spent, on top of her, burying his face in her hair. Her trembling legs slid off his hips and she lay, limp and sated, under him. Finally, when he could move, he slid off her and gathered her into his arms. She snuggled into him and they basked in the glow of both their love-making and the fire in the hearth.**

**"Santa?" he asked some time later.**

**"Ummm…"**

**"How did you get a fireplace in here?"**

**"Elves … great big elves dressed in black picked it up from Rent-A-Center for me," she smiled. "The same elves who are covering your shifts for the next twelve hours."**

**He chuckled and snatched the Santa hat off her head. "Well, since we have all that time, why don't you tell ****_me_**** if you've been naughty or nice?"**

**She felt him harden against her belly. Pushing him onto his back, she straddled him, making him groan by rolling her hips in circles over him. "Oh, I'm always nice, Santa," she said with an evil grin. "But naughty is so much more fun!" **

**And much to Ranger's delight, she proved it! Over and over again.**

**The End!**

**Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!**

**Stayce**

**p.s. They kept the fireplace.**


End file.
